Articles Posted in Managing Your Practice

On July 20 I warned you about new federal regulations known as the "Red Flag" rules, which require businesses, including lawyers and law firms, to take pro-active measures to detect and prevent identity theft.  The rules were scheduled to go into effect on August 1.

The FTC, the agency charged with the responsibility to enforce the rules, has delayed enforcement of the rules until November 1, 2009.  The following is from the FTC press release:

Commission staff will create a special link for small and low-risk entities on the Red Flags Rule Web site with materials that provide guidance and direction regarding the Rule. The Commission has already posted FAQs that address how the FTC intends to enforce the Rule and other topics – www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/redflagsrule/faqs.shtm. The enforcement FAQ states that Commission staff would be unlikely to recommend bringing a law enforcement action if entities know their customers or clients individually, or if they perform services in or around their customers’ homes, or if they operate in sectors where identity theft is rare and they have not themselves been the target of identity theft.

For lawyers, time is money.  For lawyers who charge hourly rates, inefficiency may result in more fees on the front end but will result in a clients over time.

For contingent fee lawyers, efficient practice increases profitability.  This blog post from Litigation Cost Control reminds us of the efficiencies that come from the use of forms and checklists.

The post is geared toward hourly rate lawyers working on complex litigation matters, but hose of us who work on a contingent fee can benefit from these words.

Or at least move in that direction?   Here is a great post from a lawyer who has figured out how to do it.

An an excerpt:

In the three years that I’ve been practicing as a solo lawyer I have been completely paperless. Before that, when I worked in a large firm, I kept the files that I worked on by myself in a completely paperless form. So, when I hear people say that it’s impossible to be completely paperless I know that’s not true. In addition to my own personal experience, I know several lawyers who have completely paperless law practices.

Maxwell Kennerly has written  an excellent post titled "Contingent Fee Business Lawyers as Venture Capitalists" at his Litigation and Trial blog.

An excerpt:

Day in and day out, the primary thing a contingent fee law firm does is spend lots of money. In addition to all the normal costs of a business (rent, staff, etc.), you have to pay your attorneys salaries which are competitive in the market, even against hourly billing firms, and you have to dump loads of money and time into cases for experts, motions, discovery, trials, appeals and negotiations, none of which earn you a dime until the very end.

Ken Shigley from Atlanta offers an interesting post concerning his research into and thoughts about some of the lawyers who advertise in his community.

He starts his post with these words:

As a serious personal injury attorney in Atlanta, Georgia, I am frankly embarrassed by the inundation of billboards and TV ads for personal injury lawyers who have little respect within the profession and seldom if ever set foot in a courtroom.

The Tennessee Bar Association has filed proposed changes to the ethics rules governing the conduct of Tennessee lawyers.  The project represents the first effect to change the rules since tan entire  new code was adopted in 2002.

Read the petition of the TBA here.

Read the a red-line version here.

I came across www.PowerPointforCourt.com, a website that offers a product to teach lawyers and their support staff how to effectively use Powerpoint.  The price?  $89 for a download.

Here are the chapter headings:

• Introduction to Courtroom Technology
• Utilizing Synchronized Deposition Videos
• Formatting the Master Slide
• Header and Footer
• Custom Slide Backgrounds – Inserting Your Logo
• Inserting Video
• Re-Sizing Video
• Linking Within a Presentation
• Opening a PDF in PowerPoint
• Opening a Web Page In PowerPoint
• SmartArt Graphics
• Text Links
• Grouping
• Ordering or Layers
• The Impeachment Machine (Strategies for Using Video)
• Creating Timelines
• Cast of Character Exhibits
• Bullet Point Summation
• Day in the Life Presentations
• Presentation Tips
• Image Preparation
• Working with Audio
• Creating an Inhouse Graphic Design Department
• Flashing Flash (Inserting in Presentation)
• Choosing the Right Equipment
• The Importance of an Index Page
• Handouts are Essential (General Presentation)
• How to Capture and Use Anything (digital)
• Creating Legal Illustrations for use in Court
• Crime Scene Layouts
• Links to Valuable Resources

I have not purchased this product, but am curious to learn if any readers have.  Well, have you?  Any thoughts about the product you can share with your fellow readers?

"I’ve got a $1,000,000 lawsuit."

No – you have a lawsuit with a $1,000,000 ad damnum.   There is a huge difference between the two.

Tennessee law requires an ad damnum in all cases except medical malpractice cases.  An ad damnum must  be stated in the initial complaint only in products liability cases;  different judges impose different deadlines on when a specific ad damnum must be stated in other types of cases.